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Auston Matthews

Five 18 or 19-year-old rookies have scored 40 goals in NHL history:

Lindros
Lemieux
Gretzky
Turgeon
Hawerchuk

Matthews is two away.

Would it be presumptuous to have a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer?  ::)
 
LuncheonMeat said:
Would it be presumptuous to have a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer?  ::)

I get the desire not be getting ahead of ourselves... But we're 90% of the way through the season, and Matthews is having one of the best teenaged rookie season in league history. He's a generational talent.
 
mr grieves said:
LuncheonMeat said:
Would it be presumptuous to have a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer?  ::)

I get the desire not be getting ahead of ourselves... But we're 90% of the way through the season, and Matthews is having one of the best teenaged rookie season in league history. He's a generational talent.

Just how many generational talents has this particular generation of hockey players created, anyway?
 
Heroic Shrimp said:
mr grieves said:
LuncheonMeat said:
Would it be presumptuous to have a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer?  ::)

I get the desire not be getting ahead of ourselves... But we're 90% of the way through the season, and Matthews is having one of the best teenaged rookie season in league history. He's a generational talent.

Just how many generational talents has this particular generation of hockey players created, anyway?

How many should any generation have?
 
mr grieves said:
Heroic Shrimp said:
mr grieves said:
LuncheonMeat said:
Would it be presumptuous to have a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer?  ::)

I get the desire not be getting ahead of ourselves... But we're 90% of the way through the season, and Matthews is having one of the best teenaged rookie season in league history. He's a generational talent.

Just how many generational talents has this particular generation of hockey players created, anyway?

How many should any generation have?

At most 2.

The 60's (born) had Gretzky and Lemieux
70's born its tough.  Lindros and Forsberg dominated but had short careers. Jagr has a case.
80's born its Crosby.
90's born its McDavid. 

As good as Matthews will be (probably Top 5 of his gen), he isn't McDavid.
 
Coco-puffs said:
At most 2.

The 60's (born) had Gretzky and Lemieux
70's born its tough.  Lindros and Forsberg dominated but had short careers. Jagr has a case.
80's born its Crosby.
90's born its McDavid. 

As good as Matthews will be (probably Top 5 of his gen), he isn't McDavid.

Ah. I'm counting the top 3-5. Figuring, among the several hundred to play in any ten-ish year span, there're likely a few forwards, a defenseman, and/or goalies we'd associate with the era.
 
mr grieves said:
Heroic Shrimp said:
mr grieves said:
LuncheonMeat said:
Would it be presumptuous to have a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer?  ::)

I get the desire not be getting ahead of ourselves... But we're 90% of the way through the season, and Matthews is having one of the best teenaged rookie season in league history. He's a generational talent.

Just how many generational talents has this particular generation of hockey players created, anyway?

How many should any generation have?

One or two at most.  The very term is literally one of description of a player of talent so rare that we'll see one once in a generation, give or take.  And generations are long;  a long life witnesses just a handful of generations.  So to designate a generational talent, we should be talking about Orr and Gretzky level talent.  It is a term intended to indicate one of a select few all-time greats.

Matthews is a wonderful player, already an elite one, and I think one destined to be among the best players in the league throughout his career.  He's an extremely special player, but he's not Orr and Gretzky special.  But I'd be thrilled to be wrong about that.
 
Heroic Shrimp said:
mr grieves said:
Heroic Shrimp said:
mr grieves said:
LuncheonMeat said:
Would it be presumptuous to have a Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the summer?  ::)

I get the desire not be getting ahead of ourselves... But we're 90% of the way through the season, and Matthews is having one of the best teenaged rookie season in league history. He's a generational talent.

Just how many generational talents has this particular generation of hockey players created, anyway?

How many should any generation have?

One or two at most.  The very term is literally one of description of a player of talent so rare that we'll see one once in a generation, give or take.  And generations are long;  a long life witnesses just a handful of generations.  So to designate a generational talent, we should be talking about Orr and Gretzky level talent.  It is a term intended to indicate one of a select few all-time greats.

Matthews is a wonderful player, already an elite one, and I think one destined to be among the best players in the league throughout his career.  He's an extremely special player, but he's not Orr and Gretzky special.  But I'd be thrilled to be wrong about that.

There's nothing wrong with being in the next level of mere "superstar player" instead of "generational" like Gretzky, Orr etc.  I think of a guy like Yzerman who played in the middle of the Gretzky era as being a fantastic player, up in league scoring but not considered a Gretzky level talent.  He won Cups and is considered an all-time great.  If Matthews can strive for those levels, I'm more than happy.
 
Heroic Shrimp said:
One or two at most.  The very term is literally one of description of a player of talent so rare that we'll see one once in a generation, give or take.  And generations are long;  a long life witnesses just a handful of generations.  So to designate a generational talent, we should be talking about Orr and Gretzky level talent.  It is a term intended to indicate one of a select few all-time greats.

Matthews is a wonderful player, already an elite one, and I think one destined to be among the best players in the league throughout his career.  He's an extremely special player, but he's not Orr and Gretzky special.  But I'd be thrilled to be wrong about that.

Agreed. "Generational talent" is a phrase that's starting to get thrown around a little too much these days. Like you said, Matthews is a wonderful player, a true #1 center, etc., but, he's not a Gretzky/Lemieux/Orr level talent - and there's nothing wrong with that. Very few players have that level of skill.
 
https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/848897263812390913
Auston lobbied to have his first star changed one night to Josh Leivo. Another little nugget, these are becoming commonplace.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Just give him the C already.

It's almost becoming organic at this point. Quiet demeanor, zeal for the game, starts on time every night, selfless... Oh, and he's quickly becoming one of the league premier pivots.
 
I agree that he should be the Captain, just not yet.

Let's give the kid another year, before there is even more pressure put on him.
With this amazing regular season almost at a close, the expectations next year will already be sky high for this team, no need to add to it. IMO.
 
leafsjunkie said:
I agree that he should be the Captain, just not yet.

Let's give the kid another year, before there is even more pressure put on him.
With this amazing regular season almost at a close, the expectations next year will already be sky high for this team, no need to add to it. IMO.

I honestly don't think it would affect him whatsoever. He chooses to play with men last year in a foreign country. Is given the option by Babcock at the start of the year to play wing with limited defensive responsibilities but chooses to play center. I think It's quickly becoming one of those situations where even without the label, everyone knows who it is. I'm sure everyone in the brass has had the mindset they're not naming next year, but this could be an exceptional situation.
 
What I notice when the season went in, his firsts goals as a Leaf he did a modest celebration, almost trying hard not to smile, not as passionate as the Marner's ones.

As season progressed he started to celebrate his goals with a lot more enthusiasm.

I guess he took some time to notice that he really was in the NHL.

Anyway, A little bit more vocal on games and he could snag the C
 
disco said:
leafsjunkie said:
I agree that he should be the Captain, just not yet.

Let's give the kid another year, before there is even more pressure put on him.
With this amazing regular season almost at a close, the expectations next year will already be sky high for this team, no need to add to it. IMO.

I honestly don't think it would affect him whatsoever. He chooses to play with men last year in a foreign country. Is given the option by Babcock at the start of the year to play wing with limited defensive responsibilities but chooses to play center. I think It's quickly becoming one of those situations where even without the label, everyone knows who it is. I'm sure everyone in the brass has had the mindset they're not naming next year, but this could be an exceptional situation.

I think the issue would be with a lot more off ice distractions and requests, when you are the Captain of the Leafs.
Which is why I would give the kid another year, before putting that on him.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Zee said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Just give him the C already.

Has a team ever named a captain the day of the first playoff game?  Leafs could be the first.  ;D

If they did that they'd be stealing McDavid's thunder from being the youngest ever captain too.

Somehow I can't see it happening.  Imagine how the fans would go wild in that first playoff game, especially if Leafs finish 2nd in the division and start at home.  Leafs come out of the dressing room and Auston is suddenly wearing the "C", there was no advance notice from the media, he's just announced as captain during the team introduction, the roof might blow off the ACC.
 
bustaheims said:
Heroic Shrimp said:
One or two at most.  The very term is literally one of description of a player of talent so rare that we'll see one once in a generation, give or take.  And generations are long;  a long life witnesses just a handful of generations.  So to designate a generational talent, we should be talking about Orr and Gretzky level talent.  It is a term intended to indicate one of a select few all-time greats.

Matthews is a wonderful player, already an elite one, and I think one destined to be among the best players in the league throughout his career.  He's an extremely special player, but he's not Orr and Gretzky special.  But I'd be thrilled to be wrong about that.

Agreed. "Generational talent" is a phrase that's starting to get thrown around a little too much these days. Like you said, Matthews is a wonderful player, a true #1 center, etc., but, he's not a Gretzky/Lemieux/Orr level talent - and there's nothing wrong with that. Very few players have that level of skill.

Ok. If "generational" is face-of-the-game or put-em-on-a-postage-stamp level, Matthews isn't that. But he has the talent to be on the next tier down, with the handful of guys who define their era.

How could he not be? His rookie season, without even accounting for scoring differences between eras or upticks in penalties called, is among the best in league history. 
 

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